A stormtrooper's point of view
by Cherin
Summary: Liandri Lunac'her'inar, a sniper operative in the Hammer's Fist ( http://www.minos.net/~hammersfist/ ). They chronicle a series of missions in which her deadly skills as a sn
1. Mission One

ID: TRP/PTE Lunac'her'inar/Vindictive/Vendetta/4/LCF Excelsior =S= =SN1=  
Target: Machacca  
  
Time: 01:00 hours Standard Time  
Liandri Lunac'her'inar hugged her Korikar Dh-112 to her chest, as she sat in the shuttle, being taken to the planet Janus IV. She was proud of herself for managing to become an Assistant Sniper... and now she was going to put those freshly learnt skills to the test... She thought back to the briefing. Her target was a male wookie, who went by the name of Machacca. He was an influential officer in the New Republic forces. His shuttle had been forced down, and New Republic troops would arrive within 24 hours to collect him. She had to eliminate Machacca prior to the arrival of the troops. From her deploy site, it was a four klick trek through thick jungle to reach the downed shuttle. There was a river north east of the deploy site, which would slow her progress if she took that route, and two klicks to the west-north-west there was a ravine which would be difficult to cross, and very time consuming too. About a klick south of the downed shuttle, there was a high ridge overlooking the target area. Cherin dozed off again, deciding that sleep would be very useful indeed, as tired muscles tended to twitch when you don't want them to.  
  
***********  
  
Time: 09:00 hours Standard Time  
Cherin awoke as the shuttle touched down gently. She unfastened her crash harness, and carefully stood up, making sure she didn't hit her sniper rifle against anything, having taken so long to zero it in. She took her time to secure her sniper rifle to her back, before she carefully made her way down the shuttle ramp. The instant she was off the shuttle ramp, she got down into prone, getting used to the surroundings, listening out for the sounds of the area. Moving around without getting accustomed to the sounds meant you made a lot of noise, because you weren't moving when normal noise could cover any noise you might make whilst moving. The shuttle left, and Cherin remained where she was, waiting for the noises of the jungle to return to normal. Her Korikar Dh-112 Sniper Rifle was firmly strapped to her back as she got up onto her feet. She kept low, not standing fully upright. All around her, were big, thick-leaved trees, and large, green shrubs... Creatures squawked, whistled and trilled in the canopy of the jungle, and the falling rain pelted down, muting all the colours around her, and making the air smell damp, and steamy. It was surprisingly warm, and the humidity made the air heavy to breathe... Cherin ventured forwards, rolling her feet, heel to toe as she walked. In her mind, she had a jumble of thoughts 'Will I manage this? Was my qualification a fluke? Am I going to hesitate at pulling the trigger? Am I going to run into trouble?' She wanted to be here, wanted to prove that she could apply her new skills... but the weather was dragging her mood down, making her feel slow, sluggish and pessimistic... As she walked onwards through the hot, humid, green leaved jungle, Cherin's mood gradually improved, and she began to enjoy herself.  
  
***********  
  
Time: 10:30 hours Standard Time  
Cherin stopped, and sprawled herself out on the ground when she neared the overhang that overlooked the downed shuttle. Silently, she unstrapped her rifle from her back, and laid it in front of her. She then folded her arms in front of her chest, elbows digging into the soft, slushy leaf mulch. As she'd walked, her uniform had become mud splattered. Laying down in prone on the ground had also left great muddy patches on her uniform, aiding her ability to blend into the surroundings. She put her Korikar Dh-112 on her arms, and then kitten crawled forwards until she was near enough to the ledge for the muzzle of the Dh-112 to be at the edge of the overhang. Pulling the butt of the rifle up into her shoulder, and supporting the barrel with her left hand, she looked through her scope, down at the area surrounding the shuttle, searching for signs that her target was still there. Holding the rifle butt in her shoulder, she felt surprisingly at ease, considering how rarely she'd used the Korikar Dh-112...  
Through her scopes, she surveyed the scene... from her perch, she couldn't see any obvious signs of anyone still being at the site... there were no fires set up, and no obvious harbour areas. There was also a distinct lack of useful field equipment... she relaxed slightly, realising that there was probably no-one there, but she was slightly annoyed that she would have to slog onwards searching for her target...  
After intently studying the area for half an hour, she decided her best bet would be to venture down to the downed shuttle, and search for clues as to where her target had gone, and how long he intended to be gone...  
Looking around briefly before she moved back away from the edge, she recalled the route she'd chosen to take to get from here to the downed shuttle. It was an extra two kilometer walk, but it was one that would be considered an unlikely route to take. It involved trekking half a kilometer through dense, steamy jungle, and going down a steep hill, before heading along level ground once more, for a further one and a half kilometers until she reached the shuttle. It was a long, and laborious trek, but she was unlikely to be spotted by her target, unless he'd headed in that direction.  
Standing up quickly and quietly, she headed swiftly, and quietly, along the bearing she'd planned when looking at the map before being deployed. She wasn't sure whether Machacca had already started making his way to where he hoped to be collected, or whether he had merely gone in search of food and better shelter. Cherin's breathing was becoming short and ragged, as the combination of humidity, heat, and effort was taking its toll on her. Breathing was like she imagined breathing in soup would be. Another thing that was bothering her was the quantity of swarming insects, that somehow managed to bite, even through the body sock. The bites were itchy, and made her terribly uncomfortable.  
Slithering to a halt in the leaf mulch and mud at the bottom of a small bank, Cherin came face to face with a small tuft of wookie fur hanging from the spines of a rather prickly looking bush. Cherin looked around, searching for more indicators of the direction her target had headed, and how recently. To her left, further down the game path, a tiny twig of a small branch was snapped, with water trickling along it, and splashing onto the ground below. She looked for more clues... and immediately below the broken twig, was a footprint, squelched into the soft, decaying leaf matter. She crawled towards it, remaining under the cover of the bushes and shrubs at the feet of the trees. Upon further inspection, Cherin was relieved to find that it was indeed a wookie footprint, and that the print still looked fresh, each of the pads stil clearly visible, indicating that the wookie had walked through this area very recently, maybe even within the last hour. She grinned within her helmet 'What incredibly good luck... If I'd have taken a different route, I would have had to search for this...' she thought to herself. She walked further down the trail, rolling her feet as she stepped, avoiding treading on twigs, keeping an eye out for more clues to the targets whereabouts. After travelling no more than 200 metres, Cherin came across the tiniest shred of ration pack... The footprints were gradually becoming clearer in the leaf mulch, which was promising news indeed. Cherin quickened her pace, knowing that wookies could walk a whole lot faster than she could. As Cherin continued onwards, she could hear the shrill warning cries of the creatures of the jungle ahead of her. Something was upsetting the animals... 'Could be my target up ahead...' she told herself. Encouraged by this, she surged silently onwards along the edge of the jungle path, her Korikar Dh-112 held tightly in her right hand. The trail was getting easier and easier to follow, with footprints becoming more and more prominent, and looking more fresh as she went along. Even more encouragingly, there were tufts of wookie fur hanging from soft branches, where Machacca had obviously pushed the branch back to get past.   
After trekking through the thick undergrowth of the jungle for several hours, Cherin decided it was finally time she stopped and took a breather. It was unlikely her target wouldn't stop for a while at some point, as the climate was difficult, and the terrain awkward. She forced herself to take deep breaths of the still, muggy air. A loud snap made her leap up, and turn to face the direction the sound came from. 'Calm down...' she told herself 'It was just a stick'. From what she could tell, the noise had come from between bearings 340 and 350. She brung her Korikar up, planting the butt in her shoulder, and looking down the scope, looking for her target amongst the many trees and shrubs. She panned her rifle around, looking for a tell-tale sign of her target. She thought she caught a glimpse of brown fur, but as soon as she had seen it, she'd lost it again. She sidestepped gracefully to her left, towards a downed log.  
She took her eye away from the scope, and looked with her bare, red eyes, where she expected to see another glimpse of whatever it was that was ahead of her. A flicker of movement attracted her attention, and she brought her rifle round to point towards it, as she laid down next to the log. She looked down her scope, hoping the magnification would aid her recognition of the target. And sure enough, the flicker of brown fur proved to be her target. Her target was taking a breather. She silently slotted a Super Sonic round into the chamber of her Korikar Dh-112 Sniper Rifle. She concentrated on calming her breathing, and briefly closed her eyes to help her to relax. She was still a little nervous of the Dh-112, as, during training, she'd managed to really hurt her shoulder with the recoil of the rifle.   
Deep breath, release... relax 'the rifle isn't going to hurt you', deep breath in, release 'forget about feeling in your legs', deep breath in, release... 'remember the marksmanship principles'. 'Take a look down the scope briefly, check the target hasn't moved' she thought, guiding herself through the process as she did each stage. 'close your eyes. Deep breath in, deep breath out, deep breath in, deep breath out. Enter a state where you ignore everything but your breathing, your heartbeat, the rifle, and your target. Relax, keep breathing steadily. Look down the scope, look away, look down your scope, are the sights still pointed at your target?' As she breathed, the rifle muzzle rose and fell evenly with each breath, always hovering over her target. 'Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, take first pressure on the trigger' she lightly tightened her finger on the trigger, taking up first position. 'Breathe in, breathe out... hold it for 1...2...3... squeeze the trigger slowly...' Delicately, she applied more pressure to the trigger, taking her time... 'Hear the bang, feel the strong recoil' The rifle muzzle flashed briefly as the round flew out of the muzzle, and the muzzle kicked upwards, the shock travelling through the rifle, through the armour, and into Cherin's shoulder. 'Keep holding your breath, let the muzzle settle once more.' The muzzle fell back to it's normal level. 'Breathe in, breathe out, release the trigger slowly...' Cherin gradually released all pressure on the trigger. 'Look down the scope, is the target dead or dying?' Cherin relaxed, looking down the scope, at the crimson blood spilling from the back of Machacca's head. "Target eliminated" she said softly and calmly into her comm. 


	2. Mission Two

TRP/PTE Liandri Lunac'her'inar/Vindictive/Vendetta/4/LCF Excelsior =S= =SN1=  
  
Cherin wandered down to the briefing room from her quarters. She'd gotten the commlink call for her briefing while she was down at the range, and had had to stop shooting, take her brand new Korikar Dh-112 Sniper Rifle to her room, and head to the briefing room from there. She sat down in the briefing room and listened carefully to the mission briefing...  
  
***********  
  
Moments later, in the shuttle, she got used to wearing two body socks under her armour. She'd chosen not to wear the snow trooper armour, as she found it awkward and cumbersome for shooting in. Snow trooper armour would keep her warm, but she wouldn't be able to shoot accurately. Two body socks would keep her warm, and make moving only a little bit more difficult. She continued reading and re-reading her mission briefing as the shuttle took her to Hoth, and thought through her various options, following the five Ps - 'Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance'.  
  
***********  
  
As the shuttle touched down, Cherin loaded a new magazine into her rifle, cocked the rifle, and asked the shuttle pilot to provide a scan of the local area to check for signs of her target and her soldier bodyguards. The pilot confirmed that they were alone on the ice planet, for now, other than the natural fauna on the planet. Cherin picked up her Korikar Dh-112 and traipsed down the shuttle ramp. She shivered. A blizzard was raging. To get out of the elements, and into a protected area, she tabbed the 1km to the now abandoned Echo base. As she ran, she passed the remains of fallen AT-STs and AT-ATs, now covered in snow, looking pitifully forlorn, a broken symbol of the Empire's strength and glory.  
After reaching the crumbling and dilapidated remains of Echo base, Cherin slowed her pace. All around her were old boxes of equipment, frozen solid by the sub-zero temperatures of this barren ice-planet. There was a lot of fresh snow on the floor of the hangar. Cherin dropped down onto her stomach, and crawled, deciding it looked less obvious than a set of footprints would look. Somehow, the panic of the Rebels hung around in the atmosphere of the hangar, and the might of the Empire remained. Cherin cautiously crept among the crates and kit boxes, not wishing to walk right into a wampa. She made her way carefully to the entrance to the main part of the base.  
When she reached the entrance, Cherin got to her feet once more. She looked behind her, and then at the doorway. According to information, this was the only way into the base now, so Cherin decided to place an Anti-Personnel mine at the doorway. Once it was set, she crept stealthily onwards. She was under comm silence now until she could announce 'Target Eliminated'. The shuttle was now orbiting the planet, powered down, hard to spot with passive scanners. Slowly, she made her way to the main control room. 'Now... if I were a Rebel, and my first forward scout had been blown to smithereens by an Anti-Personnel mine... would I nominate another forward scout?' she asked herself in her head. 'Yes... I would... in case there were more mines. If I were that important to a mission, my dying would not be an option... as it is now...' She placed another mine in the entrance to the passage that led to the command centre of the Rebel base. 'That should take out the next soldier, leaving only Treedo. And if the shuttle pilot did come... somehow I'm going to need to eliminate them both. And quickly.' she told herself in her mind. 'Now, somewhere to wait...' Walking onwards, past the command centre, she came to a collapsed section of tunnel. Snow and ice were piled up in the corridor. She stopped, and looked at how far it was to the command centre, and checked how clear a path her round would have. It was a straight corridor, and it was easily in range. 'Here...' she grinned. During the planning stage, she'd decided that somehow she'd have to cover anything black once she was in her snipers roost. And she'd decided to take some white cloth with her to help her.  
She eased herself down into the snow, and lay so that her rifle was naturally pointing down the corridor. She then dug her elbows into the snow, so that she could easily stay in her position. And carefully, she unwrapped the spare cloth from around the barrel of her rifle. She'd tied white material all over it while she'd been in the shuttle. The material was actually cleaning cloths and the like from the shuttle, but it was good, improvised camouflage. Carefully, she draped the piece of material over the peak above her visor, and over her scopes, keeping the end of the scope clear. Then she settled down for a long wait...  
  
***********  
  
Hours later, the first mine detonated, sending echoes shattering throughout the tunnels. Cherin awoke from her world of silence, and instantly became more alert, the adrenaline starting to race through her bloodstream. She carefully gazed down the scope, and started to enter her world of perfect tranquillity, until the shot was fired, everything else may as well not happen. She was in her world now. Her world of silence... her world of readiness... time almost ceased to exist... a flicker of movement in her scopes. No doubt one of the soldier bodyguards. And then an almost deafening explosion, as the second mine detonated. A frightened scream from her Rodian target... and then calm again...  
Treedo edged towards the command centre, still determined to finish her mission, despite the loss of some of her comrades. And Liandri Lunac'her'inar waited, patiently, silently. She watched Treedo enter the command centre. And waited, her heart thudding heavily in her chest...  
Ten minutes later, Treedo emerged once more... and Cherin's shot rang out, echoing in the tunnels, sounding as though it had not been one shot, but several hundred that were fired. Cherin watched her target crumple, the blood spurting from the back of Treedo's head, a gaping hole now etched into the skin and bone... Cherin followed through with the shot, and then allowed herself to relax. All that remained was to collect the information, and call for her shuttle. She stayed there for an hour longer, making sure no one else was going to come running. And when she was satisfied that no one would come to Treedo's rescue, she got up stiffly out of her snipers roost. She'd been laying there all day... her chrono now read 16:00 Coruscant Standard Time... and she'd been there since 08:00 Coruscant Standard Time. She crept, stiff legged, over to Treedo, and furrowed through Treedo's pocket for the data card with the information. She snatched a few extra too, figuring that they'd be good for intel to study. And then, calmly, she spoke 'Target Eliminated' and waited for her ride home to arrive once more. 


	3. Mission Three

Cherin gruffly snatched the data pad from the shuttle pilots hands. The shuttle pilot mock cowered from her, and put his hands in his pockets, as Cherin downloaded the information on the data pad onto a data card so she could read and re-read her mission briefing as many times as she liked before carrying out her orders. On the data pad screen, a very accurate map of the city appeared. On it, two main locations were highlighted. Johan Babcock's hotel, and the senate hall. They were a good four blocks away from each other. Cherin finished downloading the information onto the data card, and shoved the data pad back into the shuttle pilots hands. She then picked up her kit bag and slung it over her shoulder. It felt like it weighed more than her armour. And the main reason for that was that her dismantled Sniper rifle, a gillie suit, and three changes of civilian clothes were in the bag. The heaviest item in the bag was the rifle, with the gillie suit being only a little lighter. She'd spent ages scrounging cloth and rags off of people around the base, and adding bits to her own gillie suit, and it had taken her some time, but it wasn't exactly how she wanted it yet... she had more to add. Which was why she'd brought it. Although a lot of her time would be spent exploring the area, some light recce work, she had time where she had very little to do but wait in a hotel room, as she'd chosen to arrive two days early. Striding confidently into the bustle of the city, she kept her head up, looking around, subconsciously identifying good escape points and sniping points. She let herself be engulfed by the swarms of people. Peering at the map on her data pad, she looked for the way to Johan Babcock's hotel. It was the next left, and it was then immediately to her right.  
  
***********  
  
Moments later, Cherin arrived at the hotel Silmarillon, the hotel that Johan Babcock would be staying in. Opposite the hotel Silmarillon, was a hotel rather strangely called the hotel Imperial. Very appropriate, Cherin noted. She intended to book in to the hotel Imperial, and ask for a room overlooking the street, as she wanted to catch a glimpse of Johan Babcock before the conference started. She had a false ID, and a false credit account for the mission, and also a cover story. Although, if she were to be captured, she must not be captured alive, thereby making the cover story almost unnecessary...  
Cherin figured that her best bet would be to fire the shot from one of the many green spaces in the city, as they provided brilliant concealment in the form of grassy knolls, bushes, trees and flower patches, and offered a myriad of escape routes...but if that wasn't possible, having booked a hotel opposite Johan Babcock's, it would allow her to fire the shot from the hotel, out of sight of many observers. However, that choice really would be a last option, as escaping from her location could prove awkward... That night, she slept soundly, with ideas and tactics weaving themselves into her dreams.  
  
***********  
  
Waking early, Cherin spent very little time in her hotel room before leaving to recce the area for a comfortable little spot, that provided a means of escape, and provided the most brilliant vantage point. Walking through the city, she tried to avoid looking conspicuous, whilst meanwhile paying particular attention to the best places to set up her position. One of the first places she looked at was on one of the huge parks along the route. There was a small grassy slope, about a klick back from the road, but it was far too easy to silhouette herself. Although, notably, across the road from the grass space was a large depot of some kind. The depot itself looked pretty warn down, and in places, the walls had gaps and holes. Idly, Cherin wandered along until she reached a shop on the same side of the road as the depot, and crossed over. She slipped into the shop, and browsed absent-mindedly. After she'd spent long enough in the shop, she exited the shop, and headed back along the walkway towards the depot. She slinked casually into a small access road, and along the side of the depot. It was very run down, with piles of rubble in the access road, blocking the way in, and boarded up windows. On the door was a sign, stating that the building was condemned. Cherin flashed a quick grin, and checked the date it was supposed to be pulled down. It was due to be pulled down in a week. Stalking silently around the depot, Cherin looked for a way in. After a thorough search, she found a small hole in the wall, just large enough for her to squeeze through. She looked around furtively, and then slowly squirmed her way into the building. Inside, the dust was thick on the floor, and the internal walls were crumbling. The ceiling tiles sagged and bowed, and door frames were rusted enough that Cherin felt she could push through it with her fingers. Staying crouched down just inside the building, Cherin let her eyes get more accustomed to the gloom within the building. Her eyes did not take as long to get accustomed to the gloom as humans' eyes, as Chiss can still distinguish colour and detail at the same distance in the dark as they can in broad daylight. Cherin looked around for a way onto the next floor of the depot, as it would give her a wider firing angle. To her left, there was an old, half-rotted staircase. Cherin doubted the staircase would hold her weight, but the only way for her to find out would be to try... she didn't like taking that kind of risk, but the building *was* one of the best sniping spots she'd seen. Prowling to the staircase, she disturbed the drab coats of dust from the floor, sending it swirling into patches of sunlight, dazzling her with the reflected light. Listening, she could hear the wittering whines of speeders, and the thud of footfalls on the duracrete. All was calm...not a sound other than the normal everyday sounds of a civilian lifestyle... At the base of the staircase, Cherin halted, looking around like a prey animal being hunted. And then, she eased her right foot onto the old and decrepit staircase. It held. Slowly, gently, she shifted her weight onto her right foot, and brought her left up to the second step, placing her weight carefully, listening for the slightest sound of crumbling and snapping. Yet again, it held. Cautiously continuing onwards up the staircase, Cherin finally made her way to the next floor. All of the stairs were as strong as the day they were built. Stepping up onto the next floor, she had the sun to her back. She looked at her chronometer... it was ten minutes to ten in the morning... Meaning that in the morning, before her target emerged, the sun would not give Cherin's location away, and she would not be blinded by the sun, as the sun would not be ahead of her until after noon. Daintily, she crept around, looking for a good, comfortable sniping spot. With each hole in the wall that Cherin found, she got herself as comfortable as was possible, imagining how comfortable she could be with her rifle. Some she neglected simply because it was far too awkward to stay in that position for any length of time, others she neglected as the firing arc wasn't wide enough, and still others she neglected because although the shot could go through the hole, she wouldn't be able to see through her scope and out of the hole. All she would see was wall. Finally, she made up her mind on a spot. It was a small hole, to the immediate left of a boarded up window. It was near the floor... near enough that Cherin could lay down in prone to fire the shot. And... she could sit back from the hole, enough that the muzzle flash would not show. Silently, Cherin slipped out of the building, and to her hotel room. She would leave the hotel tonight, and stay in her spot until morning. She would then check into her hotel again, and wait to be collected by friendly forces.  
  
***********  
  
As night fell, Cherin grew impatient. She didn't mind waiting in a sniping spot for hours, or days, or weeks... but she did mind spending a lot of time in a hotel room. It was boring, and she had nothing to focus on. The room was very, very basic. All it had was a bedroom, and a bathroom with a shower. However, the room was very, very grandly decorated... but to Cherin, that didn't make up for the fact that there was nothing to do. She'd spent a lot of the day adding more snippets to her gillie suit, and deciding on what exactly she'd take with her for her overnight stay in her spot. In her kit bag, she now had her sniper rifle, a few spare rounds, her gillie suit to use as a blanket overnight, and a little packet of biscuits for munching on. She just needed some hot water to make some stim-tea to put in a flask. And then she'd have everything she needed. She intended to spend twelve or more hours in her spot, without moving a muscle. The extra hour and a half would be used to make sure her body was ready for the task, and that she wasn't hungry, or thirsty, or needed to go to the little girls room... She boiled the water, and poured it into the flask, the steam billowing out in little clouds. And then she left the hotel for the night, only leaving a few changes of civilian clothes in the hotel room.  
Fifteen minutes later, Cherin was in her spot once more, drinking stim-tea, and munching on the biscuits. After half an hour, Cherin chucked all her kit back in her bag, and reassembled her rifle. She put her day sack on her back, ready for if she had to make a run for it, and got down in prone, laying her rifle down carefully, before draping her gillie suit over her. She then dozed off, dreams of all the 'hows, what-ifs, and whens' disturbing her sleep.  
Hours later, Cherin awoke, feeling a tickling sensation on her arm... she looked at her arm, and found out that it was just her chronometer, telling her it was time to wake up. The face of the chronometer showed that it was 07:00. Silently, she switched off the alarm, and brought her rifle butt up into her shoulder, supporting the barrel of the rifle in her left hand, and lightly resting her finger against the trigger of the rifle. All she needed to do was wait for two hours. Her eyelids felt heavy, as she'd not slept well because of the nightmares that had slipped into her sleep 'what if I'm captured? what if I miss?'. Several times, she dozed off, and had to shake her head to wake her up again. And then a procession of superlative landspeeders filtered past the building. 'I am a stone...' she thought 'I do not move...' She looked tiredly down her scopes, trying to identify her target... and then she recognised him... the tousled brown hair, the brown eyes, the soft jaw line, the lithely built body... 'I aim for the eye...', she tightened her finger on the trigger, easing it back to first pressure, tracking her target 'I let him come closer...' she squeezed the trigger, and the round rocketed down the barrel, revolving due to the meticulously manufactured rifling in the barrel, and then blasted from the muzzle of the rifle, bringing with it a flash of smoke, and a clap of sound... and then, with a mist of blood, her target collapsed... blood streaming from the new hole in his left temple... "Target eliminated" she voiced into her active comm. And then all hell broke loose, people screaming, bodyguards and medics leaping into action... And Cherin followed her shot through, and then leapt into action, stuffing the gillie suit into her bag, and taking her rifle apart, shoving it into her bag, then dashing out of the building, taking the long route back to the hotel... 


	4. Mission Four

A:CO/LT Liandri Lunac'her'inar/A-4/DREAD Retribution =S= =SN1=  
  
Cherin listened carefully to the briefing. She was just itching for some action after her promotion to A:CO.   
"Your target, General Johan Mol, is a human male. The only picture we've got of him is from when he was a Captain. And that was a long time ago." The picture was handed to her. She studied it intensely.  
"General Mol is a senior researcher for the New Republic, leading a team that is designing a new generation of Mon Calamari warships. These new warships are designed to be used in conjunction with tactics that exploit the weaknesses of many Imperial vessels. Should research on these ships be completed, the Imperial Navy will suffer many defeats in subsequent naval engagements. This mission calls for the utmost secrecy - should you be discovered at any point of the mission, the Space Station will be locked down, and you will be unable to escape. DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE DETECTED. Please note also that General Mol is heavily guarded, though we are not sure as to the extent of the security surrounding him - you should attempt to discover this before eliminating him."  
"What weapons am I taking?"  
"Standard equipment."  
"How am I getting there, and what's my cover story?"  
"For this mission, we have provided you with a false identity, that of a worker at the station." She was then handed the ID.  
  
************  
  
Cherin sat in the shuttle, as it slowly glided into one of the hangar bays of the space station. Her Dh-112 was hidden in a hold all, with the barrel concealed by a drawing tube. Her real ID had been left back at base, and her alias' ID was snugly fitted into a pocket on her jacket. Her alias for this mission was Cheryl Netoia, a human-Chiss hybrid, who sympathised with the Rebels. Cherin had been quite eager to try and keep the alias' behaviour as close to hers as possible, as it meant she wouldn't slip up so easily, and contradict herself. Cheryl's duties were whatever happened to need doing at the time, as she was good at a bit of everything, and a good all-rounder.  
The shuttle touched down, with a slight clunk from the landing gear. Cherin took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, and unfastened her crash webbing. She opened her eyes again, and released the deep breath as she stood. She was ever so slightly concussed from a previous mission, in which she'd had a near miss with a blaster shot. The wall had exploded next to her, and debris had struck across her eyebrow. It had made her dizzy, and given her a nice little scar. She wasn't really medically sound for the mission, but she hadn't told anyone that. It wasn't bad enough that it would affect her performance. Or at least, Cherin didn't think so. Slinging the civilian hold all over her right shoulder, Cherin disembarked from the shuttle, and into the hangar. Truth be told, she didn't want to be here. It was the riskiest mission she'd been on yet, and she had more chance of failing this than she did of succeeding. Her speciality wasn't fighting in plain corridors. She was better at camouflage and concealment in a natural environment, not the artificial environment of a space station.  
A worker at the space station strode over to the shuttle to greet her. "Welcome to Station 5A. Could I see your identification please?"  
Cherin fished her identification card out of her pocket, and handed it over for inspection.  
"Thankyou Cheryl Netoia. Your ID checks out, maybe we'll meet again. Says here that you're going to be working here. My name is Matteas Antilles. If you ask around for me, you'll find me." He said hopefully.  
"I wouldn't bet on it. I'm only staying here while my own station is under repair. An Imperial raid hit it a few days ago, and it needs major repairs. Then I'm returning to my own station." she said with a harsh undertone to her voice. Cherin stalked off to report for duty.  
  
***********  
  
As it turned out, Cheryl's first job would be to sweep the corridors clean before the General arrived. Cherin grinned. If she took her time, it gave her the perfect opportunity to check out just how many people the General had around him for security.  
Cherin got to work, sweeping the floors. She had to start from the door to the main hangar, and clean the corridors right up to the General's quarters. The other corridors were being swept and cleaned by other station workers. It was a boring job, but she had to do it.  
After sweeping a few hundred meters of corridor, Cherin heard a few voices behind her, and turned. So far, it had just been her in the corridor, and now there were more people. And to her surprise, it was General Mol and his security. Eight security guards... four wearing the space station uniform, and four wearing the New Republic Commando Division uniforms. The leader of the New Republic forces was a Captain, and the leader of the Space Station forces was a 1st Lieutenant. The others were mainly 2nd Lieutenants or NCOs. Cherin went back to sweeping the corridors. She memorised the face of her target, and the way he walked, and the sound of his voice, as it would help her locate him again. In her mind, she filtered through all the possible ways of getting rid of the squad. Her best bet was likely to be a night kill, as most of the General's security detachment would be asleep, with only a few of them awake.  
  
***********  
  
The only thing in Cherin's mind that night once she'd retired to her quarters, was Johan Mol. She wasn't entirely sure how she was going to complete the mission, but she mustn't be discovered. One option would be to somehow creep into the General's quarters while he was away from them, and wait there for him, and get rid of him as he slept. Another option would be to simply draw the guards attention away from the General, and then get rid of the General in a quick, quiet, and ruthlessly efficient way. All she could think of was General Johan Mol. Despite the fact he was her target, she was actually beginning to wonder whether she had a crush on him or something, she was thinking about him that much. Admittedly all her thoughts about him involved his death, but it wasn't usually like this. She didn't usually think this much about her targets...  
  
***********  
  
Later that night, Cherin crept slowly around the space station. Only the night crew were awake... the General was most likely asleep... as were most of his security detachment. The air vents were open for cleaning. Cherin hid in one of the vents in the station, and waited for morning. She wouldn't be missed, as the rota said she wasn't working the next day. She had her rifle with her. She'd use that to kill the General, as it would give her a more worthy sniper kill. The guards would be killed with her sidearm, or her vibroblade. Whichever happened to be the best option at the time.  
  
***********  
  
Hours later, Cherin heard sounds of boots clomping around in the room behind her vent. The room behind her was the General's room. She prepared herself for action, supporting her rifle in her arms, leaning back against the wall of the vent. She listened for the sound of the door opening... and sure enough, minutes later, it did. Cherin's breaths became long, and deep, as she relaxed herself, waiting for the opportunity to shoot... and then she heard footsteps heading her way down the corridor. She closed her left eye, as her right narrowed, her finger shifting gracefully to the trigger. The footsteps drew closer. Cherin thought there were less footsteps than there should be... and as her target and his escort came into view, Cherin could see that only four people were guarding General Mol. Two NR troopers, and two Station Security guards. She waited until General Mol was level with her before firing. General Mol spun from the force of the round hitting his temple, and dropped to the floor. The troopers yelled in shock and turned to face the opening of the vent. Cherin unholstered her sidearm, and edged forward in the vent until she could see one of the troopers. She fired at his head with her sidearm, and he slumped to the floor, hitting it with an inelegant thud. She then turned and shot the guy opposite to him, and he too slumped to the floor. Cherin then leapt out of her hiding place, and fired one shot at the bodyguard to her right, and one at the bodyguard to her left. Both dropped dead with shots to the head. "Target Eliminated" she announced, with a quick comm burst. Cherin's heart raced. She had to escape now. Right now. Turning and grabbing her rifle, she accidentally banged her head on the vent. She cursed in her own language. And then she ran, shakily. She took the long route to the hangar, where her shuttle was still waiting. On the way, several workers looked at her, confused as to why she was running. But they shrugged it off, thinking she was late for something. Her heart was pounding, partially from the fact that she might be discovered, partially from the fact she'd had to move so fast. And she was gradually slowing down, her head starting to hurt from banging it again while still concussed. By the time she'd reached the hangar, she had been reduced to walking, her vision blurring, and feeling as though she was going to red out. Her shuttle pilot was just inside the door of the hangar. He grabbed her waist, and helped her across the hangar bay to the shuttle. Cherin blacked out as soon as she reached the top of the shuttle landing ramp. In the hurry she'd been in, she'd left behind the spent Korikar round casing... anyone searching for clues would find it...  
  
***********  
  
The remaining security detachment ordered the space station to be searched for clues. Twenty four hours later, a rifle round casing was found... and there was a dent on the rear of the case from the firing pin. Very few forces used solid rounds these days... but they knew that Independant Snipers and Assassins as well as the Empire still used solid rounds in some weapons. The higher-ups in the Rebellion would be pleased to know that... 


End file.
